The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, an advisory panel of federal officials and public members, released a plan March 5 to guide research on possible causes of the developmental disorder. The research also is directed toward establishing services and supports for individuals with autism and for their families.

The IACC was established by the Combating Autism Act of 2006, which required the committee to develop and annually update a research plan. The disorder was recently in the news when a special vaccine court rejected the theory that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine combined with the preservative thimerosal triggered autism.